Annie, Interrupted
by mellifluous cloud
Summary: Annie is sent to a mental institution. Hey, she has visions of a panther! Couldn't we all see this coming?
1. Another World

Chapter One TITLE: Annie, Interrupted  
AUTHOR: JackPhillipsGirl  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters of So Weird, obviously. And I am very sorry for doing this to all of them... (Except Annie, of course. That was the whole point.) I also don't own the movie _Girl, Interrupted_, and the song "Free As A Bird" belongs to none other than the Beatles. =)  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: _Girl, Interrupted_ is actually one of my favorite movies. This is somewhat of a spoof on it, but I'm not trying to make fun of the movie at all. I'm trying to make fun of Annie. That is my only purpose. :D In other words, this is me, amusing myself. DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY IN ANY WAY. Read at your own risk...  
  


Chapter One

Have you ever confused dreams with life, or stolen something when you had the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the year 2001. Or maybe I was just me, Annie. Interrupted.

"How did you do it?"

I glanced up slowly, focusing my eyes on the dull psychiatrist my parents were forcing me to meet with every day. Ever since moving back in with them, they were convinced that I wasn't being my "normal" self. I was just quiet, that's all. I was searching for answers.

I turned towards the window. Outside, I saw my mom throwing something in the trunk of a taxi. I watched her with narrowed eyes. "What is my mother doing?"

"Annie?" he interrupted. "How did you ride the panther to the park, if the panther was gone?"

I stared at him blankly. "By then he had come back," I said slowly, purposefully. Wasn't this guy a _doctor? _Shouldn't he at least have some level of intelligence?

He sighed, looking down at his paper in deep thought. "You people don't understand," I said accusingly. "You don't understand there is another world besides this one, and my panther comes from it to contact me, and he can appear, and disappear, and go backwards and forwards…"

"Why?"

Why? What kind of question was that? I averted his gaze and turned to the window again. My panther was outside, too. He was waiting for me. How I longed to escape from this hellhole and run amuck with my panther, free…

"Annie," he began, "your parents and I have talked about this, and we came to a decision. Luckily for you, the best place in the world is only a short drive from here. I'm going to call a cab."

I stared at him in shock. "My mother's here!" I exclaimed.

"It's… easier this way…"

Shortly thereafter, I sat in the back of the taxi, lost in my thoughts. I was walking along the jungle of Peru, when I first saw him. He chased after me, and at first I was afraid. I was only three, and I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me. But he didn't give up, and my attempts could not sidetrack his plans. I fell to the ground, and so did he. He lay beside me, and when I looked into his gentle eyes, I knew. I knew that he would be my panther forever.

"What did you do?"

I jumped, startled by the sudden voice. I had forgotten that I was still in the cab. "Um… what?" I asked, confused by the driver's question.

"You seem normal. Why did they send you?"

I smirked. "I see a panther," I responded.

The driver laughed lightly. "We all see panthers." I nodded with a small smile, then stopped myself, his answer throwing me off guard. Reaching into my coat pocket, I pulled out a stick of gum and began chewing. Through the window, I could see my panther running alongside the cab. "You're always with me, aren't you?" I said softly. So, my parents dumped me off again at another strange place. At least my panther was there for me no matter what.


	2. Trapped

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

It was a large, brick building. Inside, I met a woman with shoulder-length light brown hair and brown eyes. "I'm Molly," she introduced herself, leading me down a long, white corridor. Soft music was drifting from a room near us and Molly peeked into the doorway.

"Carey! What are you doing here?" I peered over her shoulder and saw a boy with longish blond hair playing the guitar.

"I feel so musical today, Molly!" Carey exclaimed with a wide grin.

"Not today," Molly said in a no-nonsense tone. Carey's shoulders slumped and he scampered out the door. Molly sighed and continued walking, and I followed her.

"I want my f***ing clothes!" someone screamed from the adjoining room.

"Well, then you'll have to eat something, won't you?" Molly said to another blond-haired boy who somewhat resembled Carey. Then, turning to me with a sweet smile, "I'll show you your room."

I followed her hurriedly, now feeling overcome by terror. These people gave me the creeps. What kind of nutcase would be my roommate?

Molly opened a door that revealed a tough-looking man, who appeared to be in his forties, who was lying in his bed reading a book. He had a beard and mustache, and I found myself terrified of him already. He was the kind of guy who could probably hold me up with one hand and throw me across the room.

"Hi, Ned," Molly greeted him.

Ned glanced up from his book and gave a big grin. "Hi!"

"Ned's a wonderful roommate," Molly said, turning to me. I still stood in the doorway, afraid to go in, and Molly gave me a little push before leaving the room and closing the door.

I was trapped.

Ned followed me with his eyes as I walked over to my own bed. He was smiling, but saying nothing. I threw down my suitcases and pulled out my life box, which was where I kept all my special memoirs. "Neat box," Ned commented.

"Uh… uh… thanks," I said nervously. "It's my… life box." I continued to unpack and then looked at Ned, who was still watching me intently. Not wanting to stand there in silence, I glanced over at his book. "Oh, I can't wait till the movie comes out," I said.

Ned nodded. "Yeah, these are my favorite series. I like this book the best. Harry's a little bit older in it." He smiled.

I turned back to my suitcases and placed my belongings in their rightful positions. Ned didn't seem so bad after all, I realized. Then, I heard what sounded like screams coming from outside and glanced out the window. Ned soon came to my side and I could see the fear in his eyes as we watched some of the orderlies try their best to hold onto a kicking, screaming girl with long, dark hair. I watched them lead her into the building until she was out of sight.

We quickly ran to the door and pulled it open a crack. I could hear the same shrill shrieks, now magnified in volume, coming from down the hallway. Soon I saw her clearly, and she looked at me with a long, deadly stare. Ned slammed the door shut and ran back to his bed and sat down, pulling his knees up to his chin, terrified.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded, just as the door flew open.

The girl slammed me against the wall with her hands on both my shoulders. "Who are you? Where's Candy? WHERE'S CANDY?" the girl screamed in my face. I stared at her with wide eyes, unable to speak. Even if I was able, I probably wouldn't in fear that she would kill me then and there.

"FIONA!" Molly yelled, barging into the room and dragging her away from me with the help of other attendants. They closed the door behind them and I shot Ned a questioning look.

"That was Fi," he said in a small, timid voice, as though he was about to burst into tears.

"And Candy was your roommate?"

"Candy was Fi's best friend." Ned swallowed hard. "She was upset when Fi ran away, so she… jumped out the seventh-floor window."

__

Oh God, oh God… I could feel my stomach tying up in knots. I glanced around the room frantically. Where was my panther when I needed him? My heart beat harder. I needed to find him! I needed him to protect me! Then I looked back to the bed and exhaled deeply. My panther was still here—he was just taking a nap on my bed. As long as I had him with me, I would be safe.


	3. Mirage

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"Carey seems… very happy," I commented to Ned late that night, when we were both in our beds. "What exactly is wrong with him?"

"He still wants to be a child," Ned explained. "When he was very little, his parents didn't think he was tall enough for his age. So they tied his arms to a tree and his legs to a car and drove it a few feet away. They wanted to stretch him out. But Carey didn't like being so tall, so he tried to be small by acting younger."

"Oh my God…" was all I could say. No wonder Carey was so tall. I couldn't understand how some parents could be so cruel. "And what about you?" I asked. Ned seemed perfectly normal.

He gave a small smile. "I'm a pathological liar."

The next day, I had my first meeting with the psychiatrist. It was a woman this time, with chin-length blond hair, and her name was Dr. Bell.

"Well, Annie, how are we feeling today?" she asked, forcing a fake-nice smile.

"I don't understand why I'm here," I said simply.

She glanced down on the clipboard in her hands. "Well, according to this… you see a panther?"

"So?" I shouted. "What's wrong with that? I've had my panther with me since I was three. You can't get rid of him! He protects me."

"Annie, the panther is not real. It is merely a mirage… a hallucination, maybe. Did you take a lot of drugs before coming here?"

"No!" I screamed. "I'm normal! My panther doesn't hurt anyone. What's the big deal?"

She glanced down at the sheets in her clipboard again. "It also says here that you were very quiet… and that you're always looking for adventure pertaining to… the supernatural."

"I'm just trying to find the truth," I said defensively. Dr. Bell scribbled something down on the paper and I groaned. "I shouldn't be here. Everyone here is crazy!"

Dr. Bell looked up at me skeptically. "Do you want to go home?"

I sighed. "Same problem." After a few more questions, Dr. Bell sent me off and recommended that I go to the TV room, since everyone hung out there. I sat at the couch in the far corner, chewing gum and minding my own business, when I saw Fi come into the room.

__

Oh God… please don't come my way… please don't come my way… I watched in horror as her eyes settled in on me and she walked in my direction. She pulled a chair over in front of me and sat on it backwards, resting her arms on top of the back. "Mind if I have a stick?"

"Uh… sure," I replied, reaching frantically in my pocket for more gum. Fi popped it in her mouth and stared at me, grinning, as though she was trying to taunt me. 

"So," she said, "why are you here?"

"Um… I… I see a panther."

"That's nice," Fi said distractedly, before running to the opposite side of the room since someone was calling her name. I let out a sigh of relief. Fi actually didn't seem quite so frightening today. Maybe I could even learn to be her friend.


	4. Free As A Bird

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

__

Free as a bird  
It's the next best thing to be  
Free as a bird

I ran through the jungles of Peru. "Where are you?" I called. "Where are you?" It wasn't long before he was at my side. We ran, together.

__

Home, home and dry  
Like a homing bird I'll fly  
As a bird on wings

We were free from life's traps. The world was in slow motion as we stumbled towards it, light as feathers, free as birds. The world was ours. We could do anything we wanted to do, and we would always—_always_—do it together.

__

Whatever happened to  
The life that we once knew?  
Can we really live without each other?

It least that's how life used to be, before my parents and my psychiatrist and this very building and all the doctors and nurses, the morons who proclaimed me crazy, took it away. What would they take away next? Would they take _him _away? If it was possible, they would. Maybe _they_ were why I was going crazy.

__

Where did we lose the touch  
That seemed to mean so much?  
It always made me feel so…

He was still here, for the time being, and I smiled. He smiled back to me, with his eyes. His eyes were always smiling, even now, in times of despair.

__

Free as a bird  
Like the next best thing to be  
Free as a bird

We were back, again. Running wild, through the jungles of Peru. Running free. Maybe it wouldn't be long. Maybe I only had to cling to that tiny grain of hope, and soon, we would be free again…

__

Home, home and dry  
Like a homing bird I'll fly  
As a bird on wings

"We'll be home soon, my panther," I whispered. "You just wait." He ran off, beckoning me to follow. "I can't…" I murmured. "Not yet… soon…"

__

Whatever happened to  
The life that we once knew?  
Always made me feel so free

He looked so sad and helpless, that I wanted to cry. _Why? _My panther needed me. He couldn't be happy until I was free from this prison. Until we both were. Until then, I could only dream that I was…

__

Free as a bird  
It's the next best thing to be  
Free as a bird  
Free as a bird  
Free as a bird  
Free…

"Checks."

I sat straight up with a start, and the nurse in the doorway gave me a strange look before continuing down the hallway. I sighed. It was only a dream, and I wasn't back in Peru, and I certainly wasn't free. I looked down at the floor, and I felt a small surge of happiness. My panther was still here, at least. And I was determined not to let him go.


	5. Secrets

Chapter Five AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here are the next two chapters... it may or may not be a while before I finish, because I'm headed for the Great White North for several days. I _will_ have a laptop, but who knows how much time I'll be able to write, or even want to? =) I promise after this I'll get back to writing "normal" fics... (BTW, I'm sorry I made Jack so mean but I had no room for him except in Daisy's role. I hated doing that too...)  
  


Chapter Five

"Annie?" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a nurse running towards me. "You have a phone call," she said, a little breathless. I walked leisurely to the phone both, unknowing and uncaring as to who could possibly be calling me.

"Hello?"

"Hello," came a breathy female voice.

"Who is this?" I asked, although I already had an idea. I leaned outside the doorway to look at the adjoining booth, and Fi grinned at me.

"So what did she say?" Fi asked, "she" referring to Dr. Bell.

"She didn't say anything really. I don't think she knows." Another reason why I _wasn't _crazy to add to my list.

"Listen, Annie," Fi began. "Tonight, I want you to go to the art room after all the orderlies are asleep, and the door will be open…"

I hurried down the hallways in the darkness, recalling Fi's instructions from nearly ten hours before. I finally found my way to the art room and threw open the doors. Everyone was there: Ned, Clu, Carey, another boy I later learned is named Jack, and leading the troop, of course, was Fi. She led us through a series of dark pathways until coming to a halt before a large wooden doorway. She opened the door dramatically and Carey let out a little squeal.

"It's a video arcade," I breathed in awe.

Fi grinned. "Pretty cool, huh? I call Q*bert!" she yelled, running off.

I walked over to the first game I saw and was about to sit down before Jack leaped out of nowhere and covered the seat protectively.

"That's _my _game, asshole," he sneered.

"Uh… sorry, I didn't know!" I said quickly. Fi grabbed my arm as I was walking away and pulled me over to her game.

"Come on, you can play if you want to be Q*dirk," she said. I agreed and sat down in the chair next to her.

"What's wrong with Jack?" I asked.

"Many things," Fi replied, her eyes glued to the screen as she almost mechanically hit the buttons. "They're letting him out soon."

I looked back at Jack, who sat at his seat with a huge grin on his face, bopping around. "But… he's crazy!" I exclaimed.

Fi shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Confess all your secrets to Dr. Bell, and boom, you're free! It's your turn."

I took the gears in my hand and tried as best as I could to control Q*dirk. All I had to do was confess my secrets! And then a minor problem occurred to me. "What if I don't have any secrets?"

"Then you're a lifer, like me."

I sighed. There had to be an easier way out of here. Look, now I'm losing the game too. After I had died my total allowance of 3 times, Fi decided to call it quits. When she was done, that meant everybody was done, I soon learned. We were back in the art room when Fi suddenly sat down at the large desk and everyone else sat down in the chairs around it. I followed, although I had no idea what we were doing.

"Carey Bell," Fi said in a low, dull voice. Carey stood up to retrieve the folder in the hand of her outstretched arm. "Cluet Bell… Ned Bell…" Clu and Ned did the same.

"Are the three of you related?" I asked.

"No," they all replied quickly in unison.

"Annie Thelen…" I stood up and took the manila folder from her hands. I opened it up and stared at the white papers inside.

"And me," Fi said, after handing Jack his folder. She read the words before her intently. "Same old, same old. What's your diag-nonsense?" she asked, directing the question at me.

"Um…" I began nervously, staring in shock at what followed the word "diagnosis" on my paper.

"Let me see that," Jack snapped, grabbing the folder from my hands. "Annie Thelen. Age… blah blah blah… here it is! Diagnosis." Then he stopped.

"What, what is it?" Ned prompted.

"Nothing…" Jack said slowly. "There's just a question mark."

"Really?" Fi grinned, snatching my folder away from him. She looked at my paper and her grin grew wider. "Wow, he's right," she confirmed. "That's mad cool, Annie! I never saw a person with a question mark for their diag-nonsense before."

__

I'm doomed.


	6. Realization

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Weeks passed. Jack left, Ned had progressed to Book 4, and Fi and I were becoming closer and closer friends. Carey grew more and more childish; Clu still refused to eat much of anything. I continued my appointments with Dr. Bell, but I could tell that she was no seeing any improvement. I still had no "diag-nonsense", as Fi said. But the funny thing was, I didn't care too much any more. The funnier thing was, I was actually starting to really _like _my life. It was better than my life before I came to the asylum, and even weirder was another discovery I made. Everyone here was _sane_. In their own ways, they were. It was the outside world that was insane. Life was near perfect until one day, it all shattered to the ground.

__

Free as a bird…

The song always comforted me. And again, we were running through the jungle, just me and my panther. "You're always here for me," I murmured. I looked beside me just to see that he was still there. Only he wasn't.

"Where—where are you?" I asked, my voice shaking, as I came to a halt and spun around. "Where did you go, my panther?" I cried.

A translucent image of him flickered before me, and I screamed. He disappeared. Everything disappeared. The trees, the grass, the sky—black. I was in total blackness. "You don't need me anymore," came a low, deep voice.

"NO! I NEED YOU!" I screamed. "Please, come back!"

"You don't want to be free," he continued. "You don't want me!"

"NO!" I yelled. "It isn't true! It isn't true!"

"Goodbye, Annie…" the voice said, fading. "Goodbye…"

"No! My panther!" I screamed, shaking with terror. He couldn't have left me, he just couldn't have.

"Annie?" The light was coming back. I could see a blurry figure before me. "Annie, are you okay?"

"Panther?" I asked weakly.

"No, it's me, Ned."

"Ohhh…" I said groggily, as his face came into focus.

"You were having a bad dream," Ned informed me. "You kept yelling."

__

It was only a dream, I thought, hope surging back to me. _It wasn't real. _"I'm… I'm okay now," I told him.

He nodded and crawled back into his bed, falling asleep almost as his head hit the pillow. I let out a shaky sigh and looked down at the floor beside my bed, where I just knew my panther would be. He was always there with me at night.

But as I stared down at the bare wooden floor, the realization hit me like a slap in the face: my panther was really gone.


	7. I'm Annie

Chapter Seven AUTHOR'S NOTE: C'est fini finalement! (Sorry... I'm in Quebec. The French Canadians are messing with my mind.) I can finally write a real fic now. :D First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed this. You guys rock. I still can't get over how all the reviews suddenly came pouring in. Could we make this a habit please? =) Secondly... I apologize for the weak ending, but I was stuck, and I wanted to finish... and also sorry for what happens at Jack's house, but it was something that struck me funny from episodes like "Nightmare" and "Listen". hehe. Other than that... enjoy!  


Chapter Seven

Someone was shaking me. "Are you awake?"

"Not now, Mommy… just a few more minutes," I mumbled, turning over. This resulted only in being shaken harder.

"Wake up, damnit!"

"Mommy, please! Watch the language."

Two hands gripped my shoulders tightly and shook me back violently. "I'm not your f***in' mommy!"

I peered above me with half-open eyelids. "Fi…?"

"Look, I know," Fi said.

"Know what?"

She sighed, throwing me back to the bed disgustedly and pacing around in small circles. "The panther. He's gone, isn't he?"

I sat up straight, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to see better in the darkness. "How did you…"

"It's this—weird psychic connection thingy I got. That's not important. What _is _important is we have to get out of here." She paused. "_Now._"

"Fi, it's like three o'clock in the morning."

"Don't you want him back?" she asked. It wasn't the question that stood out to me, though. Her voice suddenly changed. She didn't sound so tough anymore. She sounded like… like she was about to cry.

I hated to let her down like this. "He's not going to come back. He hates me. He thinks I didn't want him anymore," I added, a tear rolling down my cheek.

"This isn't all about you!" she almost screamed, lowering her voice when Ned began to mumble in his sleep. "I mean," her tone changing to a whisper, "we're not leaving just for the panther. I need to find… my dad."

Her dad? She never told me about this before. I told her all about Panther—why didn't she tell me about her father? But this was no time for questions. My eyes had adjusted to the light a little bit and she gave me a pleading look. I didn't get too many of those from her.

Without another word, I stood up and grabbed my coat. I pulled it on over my pajamas and slipped into my shoes. Together, we crept silently into the hallway. Fi slowed to a stop after we had passed a few doors and gave me a serious, but somewhat possessed look. "I have to do this, Candy." She hurried off again and I stared at her in shock.

"I'm Annie… I'm Annie."


	8. SheDaisy

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Terrified. Fi had me in her wrap. I was hypnotized by her, and _she_—she was hypnotized by herself, I think. Or something else. She didn't seem like herself; it was as though some outside force was controlling her. But not completely.

She took me a lot of places. A bar. Other places. I don't really remember. She dragged me into a taxi that brought us to a house I had never seen before. "Who lives here?" I asked. No answer. There was a change in Fi. She had said a few words to me, and she was addressing me as "Annie", but something was gone. This felt like it should have been fun. It wasn't fun.

And soon, we were on the porch. Fi rang the doorbell of this strange house and a few moments later, it was open just a few inches, held by the chain. And in this doorway was a face that was not unfamiliar to me at all. The face belonged to Jack.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped, clearly annoyed.

"Look, Jack, I'm sorry I was a jerk and all but Annie and I need to crash here tonight," Fi explained in a voice that didn't sound sorry at all.

Jack stood there, apparently thinking it over. Finally, he sighed and closed the door to unlock it, and finally opened it fully. Fi pushed her way by him but he stepped aside without a word. I threw my belongings onto the couch and Fi walked right into the kitchen.

"I want to make pancakes," she said in a whiny voice.

"In the morning," I shouted over to her. God, she was starting to give me a headache. She was never like this! What happened? I just wanted some sleep.

"I want them _now_."

Jack began to walk up the stairs. "There's some pancake batter in the cabinet next to the fridge. And everything else is in the refrigerator. Just don't make too much of a mess," he added sleepily.

Fi shrugged and walked back into the living area, where I was trying to straighten out the covers on the pull-out sofa bed. She stopped in front of the CD player and grabbed about five CDs off the top, flipping through the cases rapidly. A look of disgust became evident on her face. "What is _this?_"

Jack, who had just reached the top step, turned around and walked back down. "What is what?" he asked, his patience obviously thinning.

"This!" Fi shouted, holding up the CDs. "You've got five copies of the same CD!"

"I—I bought it a few times by accident!" Jack said defensively. "What's wrong with that?"

Fi smirked. I could see that she was happy to have made Jack upset, and this upset me more. "Just forget it," I cut in quickly. "Let's just sleep."

"You want to appear so tough, don't you, Jack?" Fi taunted him. "You sneer and curse like there's no tomorrow. Mr. Tough Guy. The one everyone's _so _afraid of. You wanted to be so much better than me, didn't you?"

"STOP IT!" I screamed, covering my ears, which did nothing to block out the voices.

"But look at this!" Fi held up the CD. "Five copies. You've probably got much more hidden around the house. Mr. Tough Guy listens to—" she glanced down at the CD. "Ugh, I can't even say it."

I looked up at Jack, who had been silent for quite a while. He looked as though he could fall apart, then and there, any instant. "Please, just stop," I said, my voice quivering, but I knew I'd get the same response.

"Look at Jack," Fi said in a mocking tone, "with all his 'cool' punk-metal-rap and his other shitty music… and look at this." She looked down at the CD again, and chuckled lightly. Then she gave Jack the same glare she had been giving him ever since she found the CDs. "And everybody knows—_everybody_ knows—that you have SheDaisy's CD. What they don't know—is you like it."

Jack turned and ran up the stairs. "I'm going to bed!" he shouted over his shoulder. Fi laughed at him and threw the CDs back onto the CD player. I could hear the plastic cases crack and so could she, but she didn't care. I pulled the covers over my head and prayed that, by some miracle, Fi would be gone in the morning.


	9. Little Goodbyes

Chapter Nine DISCLAIMER: I don't own the song "Little Goodbyes" by SheDaisy.  


Chapter Nine

__

I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear  
You never listen when I talk  
Maybe you'll listen when I walk  
So I made up my mind and made a sandwich  
And I didn't shed a tear  
I gave you one last minute of my time  
In this mess I left behind  
  
You'll come home tonight  
And turn on the light  
Don't you be surprised to find  
My little good-byes

I rubbed my head and looked around at my surroundings. I was expecting to see plain white walls, wooden floors, and Ned sleeping on the other side of the room. I was expecting an orderly to throw open the door any minute and say, "Checks." But instead I was in some house, and I was still too sleepy to remember why I was there.

"Look who finally woke up." I jumped at the sound of this sudden voice, whipping my head around to see who it belonged to. Fi sat at the counter in the kitchen, drumming her fingers on the table top. "What? No good morning?" she asked with a smirk.

I groaned and slid back into the bed. _Now _I remembered where I was and why I was here. "Where's Jack?" I wondered aloud.

"Upstairs," Fi replied, lifting her head upwards. "He's been listening to _that damn song all morning!_" she yelled. "And what is it that he's listening to?" she asked in a softer tone. "SheDaisy! I guess he's trying to show that he's just another teeny bopper…"

__

Are you really a teeny bopper if you're a fan of country music? I thought. I decided it would be best not to ask Fi. Instead, I fell back to the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. It was a great attempt at giving myself a false sense of security. But sheets could never replace Panther.

"Goddamnit, I'm making myself pancakes now," Fi said, as though I really cared. I pulled the covers closer to myself. _Who am I kidding? _Without Panther, it was like I had lost _everything—_not just him. I had lost Fi. She changed. And if I kept letting her boss me around, I would lose my friends back at the institution, my sanity, and eventually… myself.

"You know what? I'm going to go get Jack," I said. So what if Fi didn't want him around? This was _his _house, after all. And he was clearly awake since I was hearing his music blasting from his stereo. He deserved to have some pancakes, too.

"Suit yourself," Fi said lazily.

I shoved the sheets aside and stood up. As I ascended the stairs one by one, the music grew louder until it filled my ears.

__

Empty hangers by the closet floor  
Lipstick tube on the bathroom floor  
Unpaid bills by the kitchen phone  
I took the Beatles, left Billy Joel  
My little good-byes  
  
I'm sure you're sure I'll be back in just an hour or two  
You'll tape a Hallmark to my door  
They always said it better than you  
And if ya wonderin' if you're gonna hear from me  
Well take a real good look around boy  
And it won't be hard to see  
  
When you come home tonight  
And turn on the light  
Don't you be surprised to find  
My little good-byes  
  
Took your favorite Dodgers hat  
Left the litter, but I took the cat  
My little good-byes  
Loaded up the TV in the back of my car  
Have fun watching the VCR  
My little good-byes   
Little Good-byes, oh baby, little good-byes

I peeked into Jack's bedroom, which was covered wall-to-wall with posters of SheDaisy, but he wasn't there. _That's weird, _I thought. The stereo was in his room, after all. Then I saw a light coming from the hallway, and followed it. It looked like it might be the bathroom, and the door was open ajar. I pushed it open all the way, and suddenly the air was filled with a shrill scream. I almost didn't realize that it was mine.

"Oh my God… oh my God… oh my God…" I kept repeating, as I fell to the ground. Fi shuffled up the stairs and soon she was behind me, viewing the same scene that had caused me to scream only moments before. The scene of Jack, hanging from the curtain rod by a rope tied around his neck. Covered in blood. Dead.

"What an idiot," Fi commented. She walked away, and I still sat there, frozen. _You killed him. _Then I pulled my knees up to my chest and began to cry.

__

So cry to your mom and your sympathetic friends  
And tell 'em how the story ends  
  
My Little Good-byes  
Took the hourglass left the sand  
Now you got time on your hands  
  
My little good-byes  
Took the statue from Japan  
Funny little Buddah man  
  
My little good-byes  
Changed my voice on the machine  
Or there'll be little good-byes with every ring  
My little good-byes   
  
Left the pictures took the frames  
Got the umbrella, here comes the rain  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
Rain, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah,yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Little Good-byes 


	10. Confusion

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

I went back. Nobody was happy with me, but I wasn't happy with myself. I had lost my panther. I had lost my best friend—the only best friend I had ever had. She wasn't alive. A part of her was no longer alive. She was no longer the carefree, adventurous, courageous Fi that I had admired so greatly. She was dead.

And when they finally found her, I told her exactly that. I made her cry. She got locked up in a room all by herself, strapped to a bed at her wrists and ankles, while I—I was on my way out. I confessed my "secrets"; I was being set free. They were letting me go.

It was sad, on my last day. But the worst part of all was seeing Fi, who was unable to even move. But in her eyes, I could see something. She was coming back. And maybe one day, I'll see her again, walking along the street. We'll get together and it'll be just like the old days, except we won't be crazy any more, and we'll hang out—just two friends having a great time. One day.

And I guess inside everyone, we're all a little crazy. "If you ever confused a dream with life… if you ever told a lie and enjoyed it… if you ever wanted to be a child forever…"

"Annie? Annie, wake up."

Suddenly the scene changed. I was in the living room of the Phillips' household, on their couch. I looked around—at Fi, sitting next to me on the couch, at Clu, Carey, and Jack on the floor, all with amused looks on their faces. I looked at the television, where Winona Ryder's face filled the screen.

"Did you enjoy the movie, Annie?" Clu asked, and the other guys tried to stifle their laughter.

"Movie?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, and they all burst out laughing.

"Uh… _Girl, Interrupted_…" Fi said slowly. "We've been sitting here watching it for two hours."

"Well, most of us," Jack corrected her. "But _somebody _slept through the whole thing…" This caused Carey and Clu to erupt in laughter once again.

Just then, Irene walked into the room. "Well! I see you finally woke up. Did you have a nice nap?" she asked me.

"Dr. Bell?" I said confusedly.

"Dr. Bell?" Irene repeated. "I may be wrong about this, but last time I checked, I wasn't a doctor…"

I rubbed my forehead. "It seemed so _real…_"

"Have you ever confused a dream with life?" Clu asked in his best mimic of Winona Ryder.

"Annie, did you have a dream?" Irene asked.

"Yeah…" I said slowly.

She nodded and walked from the room. I could hear her whispering something to Molly in the kitchen, and I tried my best to hear what they were saying. "…had another dream again… we should really get her checked out for that…"

"NO!" I screamed, and everyone in the room turned to look at me.

THE END


End file.
